Show MOBILE MERCY Army Air Forces Study Plan PlanS S To Drop Hospitals Ho From Air W WASHINGTON ASHINGTON May Y 23 AThe A- A The army air forces have blueprints blueprints blue blue- prints of complete hospitals which could be dr dropped by parachute on battlefields or stricken disaster-stricken communities The Ide idea has been submitted to Gen Gene the A A F's air surgeon Maj Malcolm C. C Grow irow by several aircraft aircraft aircraft air air- craft And and engineering firms and serious J atte attentions attention is being given the project ct A AA A F officers said Friday Sketches and blueprints so far prepared include these proposals The rhe hospitals would be made up of individual units e each ch complete In itself such as operating rooms X ray rooms and quarters for pa pa- Each unit would be a separate Fuselage capable of being released in the air oc ot detached after aft th the airplane had made a normal land- land Ing lug Overall length of units Intended for use with a large Jarge transport would run up to 30 feet giving a room size comparable with many ordinary hospital rooms The method of releasing them in the air is a matter of debate Som Some designers contend that p parachutes pars para ra- ra chutes chute large Jarge enough to lower the units without damage amage would be too cumbersome and require too much special opening equipment They suggest th that t a comparatively comparatively comparatively small chuto chute be attached to the top of the unit for guiding pur purposes poses and that the speed of descent be checked by the use of rockets shooting downward and set let off U by bya a proximity fuse as the unit nears the earth tarth |